Something Old, Something New, Something Abandoned, and Some Dog Food

 

Today's set of photos comes from a weekend that I went back home for. It works out well, since I figure y'all are probably ready for a little break from my Philly pictures.

ACME, Mapleshade, NJ

Okay, so maybe "back home" wasn't the right word. I went home, and from there popped over to Jersey for a family friend's party (haha remember when we were allowed to have those?) I figured I'd take the opportunity to cross this beauty off the list. The Mapleshade ACME opened for business in 1953, making it the second oldest surviving store in the chain (Narberth PA's 1951-built store is the oldest). It is also the most intact 50's store around too. The façade was redone when the store expanded in the late 50's, and aside from a few minor things hasn't changed since. The store was originally a storefront location (I believe it's the last surviving 50's streetfront store), but when the part seen here was added on the entrance was moved to face the parking lot and given the split-level porch common of their later 50's stores (of which this is also the last surviving example of).

Here, you can see where the addition was put on. Somehow the store has avoided having a drop ceiling put in, so the plasterboard is still visible in the 1953 part while the addition has the more common tile.

This store has the Industrial Circus décor, which I'm guessing was added in the late 90's. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it had the Checkerboard Arch decor prior to that. ACME's been ramping up remodels lately, Industrial Circus is getting hard to find. Don't quote me on this, but I believe under a dozen stores in the chain still have it. Given this one's size, it wouldn't surprise me if they passed over remodeling here for a few more years... or decades.

To give you a sense of how small this store is, we're looking across the entire width of the store here. It's depth is roughly the same length. The entrance would have been on the left wall here originally, near where the brick room juts out.

Looking along the back wall of the store, towards the former front.

The Deli was this store's only service department, and it's plain to see they just cut its space out of the salesfloor. I'm amazed how small of a footprint they were able to fit it into!

The Deli, as seen from the other side. I figure this was added during the Industrial Circus remodel, since otherwise I doubt they would have bothered redoing the tile. 

The store's produce section was mainly located in the addition. The store's entrance is located behind the case, making a sort of hallway to the checkout you have to go through to get in and out.

I don't believe I've ever been in another supermarket that still had a plasterboard ceiling. All the other ACME's of this era have had drop ceiling tiles put in, presumably so they could run new wires and pipes without having to cut through anything.

Some more produce cases. I was pleased with the selection this store had, as I've been to places twice this size that had smaller ones.

On the streetfront side, the tower still stands! They replaced the big vertical signs with a small box, but it's still a pretty cool find. The tower and streetfront façade were most likely covered in porcelain tiles when this first opened, and the entrance would have been located under this. I suspect the tile was removed when the addition was built, and the stucco on the tower was (re?)done during the Checkerboard Arch remodel.

One last shot of the store along the streetfront. Props to ACME for taking such good care of this place, hopefully it'll still be looking this good in another 67 years!

Maple Shade Custard Stand, Mapleshade, NJ

I was sorta expecting this to be a neighborhood landmark with a lot of history written up on it. Apparently that's not the case. All I can find are reviews, but what I can tell you is that this place is well-loved by the reviewers.

Wawa, Cherry Hill, NJ

This location first opened in the 70's or early 80's, and was replaced by a freestanding store across the street in 2018. The old location, which sits at the end of a small strip mall, currently sits vacant.

Chi-Chi's/Buca di Beppo/Longhorn, Cherry Hill, NJ

Longhorn totally redid this place when they took over from Buca di Beppo around 2010 (and remodeled once again to a lighter color scheme not long after). The building looked pretty old. Given the shape and layout of it, I'm wondering if this was ever a Chi-Chi's. Update: yup, Chi-Chi's was here up until the chain imploded.

Rite Aid, Cherry Hill, NJ

This store opened in 2009 on the site of an old restaurant. I'm unsure if this replaced an older store nearby. Seeing how I can't find anything on it, I'm suspecting it was just a new location altogether.

McDonald's, Cherry Hill, NJ

While it may look like a newer store from my picture, this one actually dates back to the 70's. The brickwork was left alone aside from a coat of paint during the circa-2014 remodel, and the outlines of where the roof brackets would have sat are still clearly visible on it... at least when you get a little closer than I did with this picture.

Weber's Root Beer, Pennsauken, NJ

You may remember the Stratford, NJ Weber's we saw a few weeks ago and how they were one of the final 4 in the once-national chain. Here's another one, which as of now is one of two left (the other being in Oklahoma City). It's been here since 1954 and has been independently-run for several years now. They've got a great reputation and they're high on my list of places I wanna try.

Sunoco/Conoco, Pennsauken, NJ

Sunoco had a pretty long run here. They built this place in the 50's, and finally gave it up to Conoco in 2018. Interestingly, Conoco opened here using their old canopy design, which I think was "officially" retired before they even entered the region.

Canal's, Pennsauken, NJ

Canal's is an unusual chain. They've got locations all over South Jersey, but very few of them seem to be related to one another. Each location/group seems to have its own separate website, but they seem to be related since they all have the same name and logo. This particular location has been open here since 1963. It kept its original look until a major remodel around 2010, which changed everythign except the part of the façade the sign sits on, which was left entirely alone.

Gulf, Camden, NJ

This station first opened in the 20's, and from the looks of it I'd guess has been abandoned at least 30 years. All things considered, it doesn't look like a total loss yet so I'm hoping somebody can save the building. It's in a rougher part of a notoriously bad city, so my expectations aren't too high.

Westtown Updates

At this point, the new façade is structurally complete. All that needs to be done now is adding the windows! What do you guys think of the new look? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Okay, so maybe windows and  a little brickwork. But still, signage is going up which means they're pretty darn close to being finished.

At this point, the new Giant hadn't opened yet, but they were gearing up for it. People were in there putting together shelves so I couldn't get a picture through the window.

Coach House Motel, Exton, PA

This isn't my official Halloween post (y'all have to wait for the 31st for that), but here's a quick little urbex adventure to help ring in spooky season. I remember hearing this motel's original name a while back, but don't quite recall it. It was something like the Presidential Motel when it first opened in the 60's. It's more commonly known as the Coach House Motel, the name it went by from the 1970's until it closed in the late 2000's. After that, it served a short stint as the Malvern House Recovery Center (a rehab facility), but was still owned by Coach House. They closed in 2014. It was sold in 2016, and plans were made to put a self storage facility on the site. That plan took a little while to come to fruition. The motel suffered an arson fire in 2018 only a few months before construction finally began that badly damaged the second floor where the motel's owner would have lived.

As for my actual Halloween post, we'll be heading to the Cyanamid Labs outside Princeton, NJ (which just so happens to be my all-time favorite explore). Thanks to everybody who voted on it! The other choice, shorter tours of three different schools, will be making its way onto here at whatever point I get to those photos chronologically.

Marble busts of old presidents were set into the stone walls between every room, a relic of the motel's original name.

Every one of them was different, but I don't think they made it to anyone beyond the first half of the 1800's.

The lobby's carport had a breezeblock partition separating it from the rest of the parking lot. It's an underrated building material; walls made of it look really cool.

The main lobby would have been on the first floor here, and the owner's apartment above it. This is where the fire hit. The second floor was basically gutted, but the first floor didn't have much more than smoke damage. I saw a lot of charred haybales lying around when I swung by here again shortly before its demolition, which I think might have been used as fuel to start the fire.

Looking down the short and narrow porch along the front. There was a surprising amount of overgrowth here considering it had closed only three years prior.

Here's another president. Setting these in here was a strange but cool idea.

I tried to get some pictures through the windows here, but the rooms were too dark to really see anything. I got a better look at them on my subsequent visit, so keep your eyes open for that when I get to posting them in a year or so.

Parting look along the front of the motel. It's not much to see but I enjoyed it. Lurking around creepy old motels is a perfect activity for this time of year.

Exton CVS Progress

It looks like the building's pretty much complete at this point, all they've gotta do now is put up a sign!

Pickering Valley Feed & Farm Remodel, Lionville, PA

The local pet and livestock store had just opened its new expansion and was beginning to remodel its existing space. I wasn't sure what exactly they were going to do, so I just photographed all the remaining "old" stuff in case it got taken out. The fish room was one of the few parts that actually didn't get remodeled, but just about everything else around it did.

I'm 99% sure the expansion opened with new bathrooms, so I thought these were going to come out. Once again, I was wrong. It still looks like they intended to take them out, since the places where they cut walls away from these still haven't been patched up. Maybe they're just waiting for these to get rundown and gross before they get rid of them, since they were just redone only a year or two before the expansion.

The half of the original store closest to the expansion was still open, but the opposite side had been tarped off for remodeling. Here's looking across what was left of the original store.

And here we are in the expansion! The remodel said goodbye to the old store's drop ceiling in favor of a black open-truss ceiling like the new part.

You can see through the tarp just enough to tell that the drop ceiling on the other side had already been removed. The floor tiles are also still in place here; they were later removed in favor of polished concrete.

And here we are in the old store looking toward the new. The remodel dramatically changed the feel of the store, which I'd say was for the better. Previously, it looked kinda crusty and run-down. The new look's more industrial, but just feels cleaner.

In honor of Eddie Van Halen, here's a song that he pretty famously covered. It's a song that gets used a lot of places, but I will forever associate it with the Mr. Bean New Year's Eve episode.